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Oh goodness, sorry for being the worst blogger ever over here! I’ve meant to a billion times, but you all know how it gets during the holidays. Always something to do. Then [if you don’t read my style blog or follow me on plurk], I had the worst tech week ever last week! Even now, I’m not 100% up and running correctly. Let me put it this way. If I want to turn on my computer, I have to find the button on some thing that’s hanging out of the side of my computer. Which is, btw, completely open on the side. It’s fancy like I don’t even know. *laughs*

My monitor also pooped out on me in all of the mess. I mean, to be quite honest, the fact that the thing worked at all was kind of amazing. It’s on for hours daily and it lasted a good 7 years or so. That’s really wonderful! I’m very careful with my things, which is why when something breaks, it’s almost devastating to me. My headset finally broke earlier this year and it had lasted me over 10 years.

BUT the good thing in all this mess is that I am getting a new video card. That’s actually kind of what started this whole deal. I got my early Christmas gift, a new video card. But of course, it’s much bigger than my old card [going from a GTX 550 Ti to a GTX 970, for the curious. I dunno what the numbers really mean, I just know the new card is better. LOL!]. So because it’s bigger, and stronger, my power supply wasn’t enough and the dang thing didn’t fit in my case anyway. Luckily, I have my own personal geek squad, so a new power supply has been ordered, I have a new case, etc etc. And I have a new monitor that is bigger and brighter than my old one. So once the new power supply comes in this week, I’ll totally be cookin’!

Oh, and top of everything else, I was stricken with the plague this past week. I don’t get sick often anymore, so this was unexpected and definitely unwanted. I’m healing up and all, but still. It sucked. 😦

But enough about that stuff. 🙂 In SL, it’s now winter on Bluebonnet!! I’m loving it!

My sis has done all the winterizing this week. It’s so so so pretty! If you came by Bluebonnet in the fall, you should come back around now to see all the wintery things. It’s just lovely!

So on the adoption front… Well, our 2nd Heritage panel expired and I chose not to put up another one right now. I think it’s hard to go on trial with someone around the holiday season. One advantage with had with our girls is that we had plenty of time to form a bond with them when we met them. During the holidays, there will be so many times when we’re busy or distracted or just plain ol’ not here. And that would NOT be fair to a kid. Plus we have Abby’s 2nd adoptaversary coming up! I think I’d feel bad being all “We’re celebrating this kid, don’t you hope you make it this far for us to throw you a party?” *laughs* Maybe next month we will see about it again.

This is more of a RL post today because my mind is full. I’ll get back to the snark and SL antics soon. 🙂

Over the past few years, I’ve done posts here and there, either for Memorial Day or Veterans Day, thanking those who have served in the armed forces. Two of my high school classmates, Robert and Billy, died while in service. One in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. My nephew is currently in the army. Another young cousin is planning on enlisting in the air force after he graduates in 2017. With everything going on in the world, it’s hard to think of what their military careers will be like. But they know what they are signing up for. They are, or are going to be, soldiers.

But then I think about the people caught in the crossfire. What happened yesterday is a good example.

However, it would be too easy to give into fear. I know we’re all scared. Anything could happen. I spent an hour on the phone with my mom earlier reassuring her that we’ll be safe. It’s a promise I can’t exactly keep, of course. We both know that. But it made us feel better. And as we are people of great faith, we prayed about it.

It would be too easy to look at the news and be scared and hide in the bed. So I’m doing as Mr. Rogers said his mom told him to do when things are scary.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”

I’ve been looking for the helpers. And oh, are there helpers! So many people opened their doors last night to strangers in need. People reached out to help in any way that they were able. It was beautiful to see in the wake of so much tragedy.

For every bad deed that is done, there are many more people practicing love, charity, forgiveness, and hope. Look for the helpers. They’ll show you that we’re going to be okay in the end. ♥

No matter how crazy my RL is, or what else I do in SL, this is one of the best parts of everything. ❤

Also, I stole Birdy’s picture because she took a way better one than I did. *laughs* She’s getting really good at in world pics!!

The girls and I had about half an hour of a “naptime” together this evening before joining the family for one last rainforest game before my sis turned the keys over to the next vacationers. I think the 3 of us really needed the quiet time. Abby mentioned that she thought it was almost strange how relaxed she gets when we are together like that, but I understand it completely. I think that’s something that people outside of SL, or even some that are in it, just don’t get. I need to see my loved ones in world often. Sure, we have plurk and different ways of contacting each other throughout the day, but just the act of being together is what keeps our bond strong.

After a game of Pentadee [Yahtzee] with the family, we said goodnight to the kids and then Lolita, Takeo, and I went to hear a friend DJ at Club Zero. I am not super familiar with aggrotech music, but I liked the songs and of course anytime we’re together, it’s fun! I love watching people, too, so it was a good time all around.

Tomorrow is my last day to get all the cleaning and packing I need to do before we head out on Friday. I have to admit, I haven’t truly been the most excited for this trip so far. It’s extremely hard for me to be so far away from home at any given time because of just how my RL is. But I keep being told to go because I need this trip. I need to see other things and not worry so much all the time. So I’ll try to relax. It’s just a week, anyway. Everyone will be okay for a week.

But I won’t have SL access while I’m gone, and even if I did, I would not want to be that jerk logging into SL to look at Linden water [as pretty as it may be!] when I have the real ocean right outside my door! *laughs*

We have been having such a great time on our post-camp vacation! The family packed up and headed back to the rainforest a few days after we got home from camp. The rainforest is incredibly relaxing to me. It’s kind of like going home. The kids have their same beds. We have our same little bungalow. It’s nice to just be together in our little bubble. I have been loving just sitting outside and enjoying the rest.

This coming week is going to be exceptionally busy for me. I have a RL trip coming up and since I’ve really not gone on a big vacation in many many years, naturally I’m just this side of freaking out. *laughs* Plus my bestie will be at my house so I have to make sure it’s clean. I have a painting class on Tuesday and I see my parents on Wednesday, I need to find time to get a hair cut and color and I have to admit, I’m not exactly the most awesome at time management! I mean, I kind of only have myself to blame at this point. I’ve known about this trip since February. 😀

Tomorrow night, we have a family dance, and then begins my week of crazy! I’m definitely going to enjoy all the rest and relaxation I can at the rainforest until then!

Goodness, what a past week I’ve had. People have always asked me why SL drama never seems to bother me and why I can just move away from people. My RL? Has nothing on SL drama. *laughs* Not always, but when it does…yikes. It was nice to have some time in SL tonight after the family went to bed to just be quiet for a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, my RL isn’t horrible on a normal basis. But when things are bad, I spend a great deal of time trying to “fix” everything. Be strong for everyone, calm everyone down. To me, it doesn’t matter how I feel inside. My feelings don’t matter in that moment because I need to make sure everyone else is okay. It doesn’t matter that I was only sleeping 2-3 broken hours a night or eating maybe once a day. It doesn’t matter. I try not to lean on anyone too much because 1, I don’t like to bother people, and 2, it’s simply not something I do. I probably should sometime. It almost seems too sweet to think about – being able to lay down my problems on someone and have them tell me that it’s going to be okay because they’ll help me take care of it. I guess that doesn’t happen very often as you get older. I felt a lot this past week like I was on an exercise bicycle. I was cycling and cycling and while I might be doing okay in one area, I wasn’t really getting very far at all. I know how emo that sounds. *laughs*

But I had such wonderful IMs and private plurks from some people. Mostly people who I really didn’t think read my plurks too often. It was nice, you know? To just know that they were thinking of me even if it was just in that moment that it took to write me. I am a full believer in the power of prayer, and I know that the prayers and the good thoughts helped.

Hopefully things will quiet down now. I miss being in SL and I don’t like that when I have been there this past week, I have been too frazzled to really enjoy it. I am behind in blogging and I’ve been wanting to do another video. I have actual YouTube subscribers now. How crazy is that? I don’t know what to do a tutorial about, though. I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll do just a “daily vlog” type video like some of my favorite vloggers do. I’m not sure I’d be that interesting though. Like, oh hi, please watch me put on an outfit and take a pic. Zzz. LOL! We’ll see, though. We’ll see how it all goes.

Ooh I’ve been a bad blogger in this blog this month. Sorry about that! I’ve actually started a ton of posts but by the time I get around to finishing them, I figure “Who cares about this?” Although why I care what other people think about this blog, I don’t know. It’s just where I write randomness. 🙂 But I’ll have more posts next month because the family is going on vacation again! Woo!

This past weekend was a super busy one for me. Actually, since Wednesday, I’ve been in SL maybe 3 hours altogether. I got SUPER sick Wednesday night while doing a photo. I have no idea what happened. I just suddenly had a fever and uncontrollable chills. I hate being sick, so of course I was a super grump for days even though really it was just that one night. Then Saturday I was out all day and I fully intended on logging into SL that evening, but MORE RL stuff came up and we spent the night cleaning because we were going to have people over yesterday. I figured that it would be over early enough that I could get back in world but it was not.

For most people, not logging in for a few days is probably not even a big deal at all. But SL is where I go to relax and it helps with my anxiety, so it was nice to wake up this morning and head in for a few minutes.

My RL is not as chaotic as it used to be. I’m VERY blessed that it is not because I know it can change in an instant. Unfortunately, my brain doesn’t calm down in the calm times. I’m forever waiting for something bad to happen. I know that it’s not the right way to be, but well…tell that to my brain. *laughs* Being able to be in SL, even if I just have 5-10 minutes alone to look at the sim, it makes such a world of difference to me. It’s actually better than any medication I’ve been on, which is kinda cool.

Now that all the sickness and craziness of the past few days is over, I can go back to what is normal for me, and I like that quite a bit. I miss my SL family and I’m THRILLED that next Monday we’ll be heading for our vacation!

But it’s time for me to get up and go do some stuff. Groceries gotta be bought, clothes gotta be washed. 🙂 I feel better now that I’ve blogged, too. Writing in a blog is really the best kind of online therapy for me! I’ll try not to go so long in between posts again. ❤

So the family is going to be going on vacation again! You might remember that we went to the Bahamas back in March and had an AMAZING time! It was our first big event as a family, since Abby had just been adopted 3 months before, and Payton and Riley had only been Oleanders for less than a month. It was a great bonding experience for us! Now we get to do it again, and we have more kids this time around!

We’ll be heading to a resort at the Grand Canyon soon! Originally, we were supposed to fly out on the 18th [I think], but a few nights ago, my sister said “We’re too excited! It could be ANY TIME, so be ready!”

Um. She’s seen how we pack, right?

But since I had some time this afternoon, I decided I should start packing us up so that in case Lolita yells “It’s time!” we’re totally ready for it.

I did NOT, however, pack Aldwyn’s Bob Marley shorts.

This vacation couldn’t be coming at a better time for me. I’ve been feeling… well, not sad, but just kind of down. And not as connected as usual. I know it’s just this time of the year. It’s not unusual. But I don’t like it. I feel like I’m letting a lot of people down by not being as involved as I usually am. But it’s not just in SL that it’s happening. It’s RL, too. It sucks but it’s also not forever.

Our vacation will do me good, though. Get me back to being a better mom in SL and stuff. 🙂

But seriously, if the Bob Marley shorts come out, someone’s gonna be thrown into the canyon. I’m just sayin’.